1 9 8 1 – 1 9 9 2 (UK)
89 x 30 minute episodes
The daring dashing dynamic Danger Mouse and his faithful hamster assistant, Penfold – both working for the British Secret Service – were given assignments by Colonel K, their Walrus commander.
The duo then did battle to save the world from monsters, master thieves and crazed fiends of all types with the most prolific being their arch nemesis the megalomaniac toad, Baron Silas Greenback, and his henchmen, Nero (a caterpillar) and Stiletto Mafioso (a crow).
To be honest, timid, bespectacled Penfold wasn’t really much of a help to our intrepid mouse hero. He was prone to fretful exclamations like “crikey!” and usually needed to be saved from one situation or another.
Danger Mouse was primarily a spoof of James Bond. In fact, the series was layered with spoofs of all types. In one episode they travel to a planet where Penfold accidentally awakens a cartoon version of Ridley Scott’s Alien. They then crash on the moon and return to earth via a “time travellers potting shed” (a la the Tardis from Doctor Who).
Danger Mouse also lived in a red post box just outside the Baker Street residence of Sherlock Holmes.
Although designed for children, the show appealed to adults and worked on several levels. David Jason (from Only Fools and Horses and Darling Buds of May) supplied many of the voices for the series including the Narrator, old DM himself and one of his arch enemies, vegetarian vampire Count Duckula.
The Count eventually received his own self-titled show but was infinitely inferior in his solo gig.
Danger Mouse (a production of Cosgrove Hall who also produced Jamie and the Magic Torch and Chorlton and The Wheelies) has been sold in over 31 countries, and 7 seasons have been screened in England.
Danger Mouse had 730 white suits and eye-patches. That’s quite a wardrobe!
Danger Mouse
David Jason
Ernest Penfold
Terry Scott
Colonel K
David Jason
Isambard the Narrator
David Jason
Baron Silas Greenback
Edward Kelsey
Nero
David Jason
Stiletto
Brian Trueman
Count Duckula
David Jason
